Writers in the Storm

by Colleen M. Story

If you’re looking for a way to get yourself out of a creative rut, refresh your viewpoint, and bring new life to your writing, you may want to try going on a color walk. 

What is a Color Walk? 

American writer and artist William S. Burroughs came up with the idea of the color walk to inspire his students. 

It’s really easy to do. Simply pick a color before you head out on a walk, and then let that color lead you on your route. 

Follow that yellow bicycle until it goes out of sight or until another yellow object catches your fancy. Maybe it’s a yellow Labrador taking a walk with its owner, so you go the same direction for a while until you see a yellow car turning left at the next block. 

You turn left, too. 

Little by little, let the color lead you on a route you wouldn’t normally take, all while keeping your eyes peeled for new things containing that color. 

Here are some other helpful tips: 

• Give yourself an hour of uninterrupted time. Take your watch with you. Once thirty minutes have passed, turn around and head back, or arrange for a friend to pick you up wherever you end up at the end of the hour.
• Use your intuition to pick your color. Which one speaks to you today?
• Try not to talk or interact with others on your walk. Use it solely to observe your surroundings and allow your imagination to play.
• When you return from your walk, sit down immediately and record your observations, including any ideas that occurred to you while you were out.

5 Ways Writers Can Benefit from Color Walks

Anyone can benefit from a color walk, but they can hold some special creativity-boosting benefits for writers.

1. Spices Up Your Exercise

Writing and walking go well together. (Check out our post, “What Famous Writers Know About Walking.”) But let’s face it—sometimes those daily walks can get boring, especially if you’re treading the same old route all the time. 

Focusing your mind on a particular color forces you to pay closer attention to your surroundings and creates new interest for your brain. Suddenly what’s old looks new, and that’s all it takes to make the walk more fun. 

2. Adds Unpredictability

The fact that you need to follow the color takes all the routine out of your walk and plunges you into the unknown. You don’t know where you’re going to go or how you’re going to get there, and that simple change causes your mind to wake up and pay attention.

Don’t be surprised if after a color walk your writing descriptions become a lot more detailed and rich!

3. Gets You Out in Nature

Nature inspires creativity. Several studies have shown that walking, by itself, boosts creativity (by 60 percent in a Stanford University study!), and when you add in greenery and plant life, the effects are even greater. 

If you think you don’t have time for a walk, reframe it in your mind—this is part of your creative work. You need to do what’s necessary to inspire the muse, and walking in nature is one of the easiest, least expensive, and most enjoyable ways to accommodate that need.

4. Gives You Another Way to Craft a Story 

One of the fun things you can do while on a color walk is to take the items you see and bring them together into a story. Weave together the yellow bike, the yellow dog, and the yellow car into a series of events involving a character—perhaps one you see on your walk.

Allow your imagination to play. This story doesn’t have to become anything important. Use your color walk as simply a way to exercise your imagination, then see what you can come up with for a story, essay, or poem. 

5. Livens Up Your Descriptions

We writers love to spice up our descriptions, and a color walk can help you do that. Try “interviewing” your color when you return from your walk. What did it have to say to you? What did it teach you? What do you think the color represented to you that day? 

Write down the impressions you received regarding this color in general, and then see how you might use your findings the next time you need to describe a setting or a character.

Have you tried a color walk? If you haven't, are you willing to try one?

About Colleen

Colleen M. Story inspires writers to overcome modern-day challenges and find creative fulfillment in their work. Her first non-fiction book, Overwhelmed Writer Rescue, was named Book by Book Publicity’s Best Writing/Publishing Book in 2018, and her novel, Loreena’s Gift, was a Foreword Reviews' INDIES Book of the Year Awards winner, among others. 

Her latest release, Writer Get Noticed!, is a strengths-based guide to help writers break the spell of invisibility and discover unique author platforms that will draw readers their way. With over 20 years in the creative industry, Colleen is the founder of Writing and Wellness and Writer CEO. Please see her author website or follow her on Twitter.

by Laurie Schnebly Campbell

“You’re building a WHAT?”

“A world.”

“The whole THING?”

That’s where the next response will be different for each writer. Yes, some of us do build an entire world for our stories. No, some of us don’t.

But regardless of how detailed or how sketchy it might be, we can never write a story without creating SOME kind of world.

It might be as simple as a few lines about the setting. “Twelfth-century France, on the way to the Third Crusade.”

“A doughnut shop on Main Street where all the townspeople come to get their news.”

“The camp for women who served with Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War.”

Sometimes, that’s all the author—and the readers—need to envision where the book is set. For them, the world takes second place (or third, seventh or fifteenth place) to other aspects of the story ... like plot twists, character journeys, dramatic dialogue, emotional arcs, entertaining events and more.

Other times the world is an essential part of the book, without which the story would feel emptier. Lacking in richness. Imagine a Harry Potter story without Hogwarts Academy or an Eve Dallas story without the New York Police Department. Readers would feel cheated.

Series readers, especially, like seeing the touchstones they’ve come to expect in a particular story world. J.R. Ward, Susan Mallery, Robert B. Parker, J.R.R. Tolkien and dozens of other authors have created worlds that live far beyond the covers of each book in the series.

Other writers create a fresh world for every book, and their readers are perfectly satisfied with each new one they come across.

What belongs in your story world?

Obviously, it’s more than just the physical setting.

That doesn’t mean the place and time aren’t important. Where the characters are located, what surrounds the active area, what the weather is like, what hour of the day different scenes take place in, what seasonal events will affect the plot ... all of those matter to the story.

And that setting can be described in lavish detail or quick brushstrokes, whichever best suits the author’s voice.

There are times when it’s crucial for readers to have a solid grasp of the setting, like when clues are related to “the distance from the dock to the barn” or “whether sunset actually happened along the way home.”

There are also times when knowing details like the color of the heroine’s bedroom quilt and the sound of her clock gives the reader a welcome sense of being fully immersed in the story world.

Then there are times when such details diminish the reader’s interest, taking them away from character or plot elements and shifting the focus to things they view as immaterial.

Why time and place matter

Regardless of how extensively or briefly your physical setting is described, though, the time-and-place location plays a crucial role in making your story’s characters do what they do.

Taking real-life locations as an example. Nobody would expect the same response to news of a kidnapped child from someone living in present-day Jerusalem and from someone living in an Antarctic research station.

Likewise, the characters’ setting—whether or not it appears during story action—has already played a role in making your people who they are. If Elizabeth Bennet and Katniss Everdeen were faced with one another’s choices, we can figure each one would still value her beloved sister’s well- being above her own ... but what she’d do to preserve it would be completely different, based on the world she grew up in.

So whether or not the characters’ coming-of-age setting is included in your present-day story, it’s still going to affect what happens. Because it’s made them who they are, whether or not that’s something they embrace or want to change.

Accept it? Or change it?

Just as characters are faced with the decision of whether they’re satisfied with who they are, or whether they need to alter it somehow, that same question can apply to the world that surrounds them.

In fact, it often provides the conflict that gets a story started. Someone who perceives injustice in the way feudal serfs are treated by the local barons, or someone who dreams of a more exciting life in the big city rather than on an isolated ranch, is someone with a story ready to happen.

Conflict doesn’t have to come because of dissatisfaction with their setting, though. It can also come from someone else who wants to change it.

Say, the new boss who decides to transfer everyone to the upgraded headquarters office two hours away. Or the character’s true love who plans to pursue a new opportunity on the frontier. Again, there’s a conflict waiting to unfold.

And that’s still only the beginning of how the story world plays into making your book memorable.

We’ll go into more detail on that from August 12-23 during “More Than Setting: World-Building” at WriterUniv.com, but meanwhile I’d love to know what story world comes to mind when you think about those you’ve enjoyed reading ... or writing.

Somebody who responds will win free registration to the class, and everybody who responds will give the rest of us great ideas for books we want to read or re-read. So that’s my question for you:

What story world did you love reading or writing?

I’ll check back for answers throughout the day and tomorrow and congratulate the winner of the registration for the free class on Saturday night. I’m looking forward to hearing about some fabulous story worlds!

A novelist who won “Best Special Edition of the Year” over Nora Roberts, Laurie Schnebly Campbell always has trouble choosing her favorite activity: writing, reading or teaching. Her newest course explores building story worlds, whether they’re a completely fictional creation or an actual setting the author knows well.

Penny Sanseveri

From a business standpoint, giving something away for free to get a sale may seem counterintuitive. How can giving something away for free help you make money in the long run?  

Think of offering those freebies as a marketing expense: the cost of exposure. Free promotions are a great way to get you exposure in front of your target audience. This exposure can help expand your following, and eventually this will lead to sales down the line. The key is to know how to take advantage of free.  

Let me give you an example: One author I worked with held a freebie promotion that led to 37,000 downloads of her eBook. The following day, when the promotion was over, she sold 1,300 eBooks. While 37,000 seems like a lot of lost sales, it’s actually a conversion number. You can’t get all the 37,000 downloaders to become fans. Within that group are your fans and readers, perhaps around 1,000 or so. They are the people who take the time to read the book, and who may even write a review. You’ll gain enough of a following to start building a fan base, and you’ll continue to market to those people in order to keep the connection strong.  

Don’t worry about the freeloaders. Instead, focus on those downloaders who will take the time to read your book and become fans. 

How can you make this work for your book? Below are the first few benefits of free, as well as ways to use free promotions effectively to get more fans and sales. 

1. It Makes Your Book Attractive 

Being discovered by readers is a real challenge for authors these days, since there are an estimated 350,000 books published every year. Readers are inundated with choices. By making your book free, you make your title attractive, and make it easy for readers to choose your book— especially if you’re an author they’re unfamiliar with— over another author’s book.  

Freebies are a way to introduce readers to you in a risk-free way, and there’s a good chance they’ll want more. By offering a risk-free introduction to you and your books, you gain fans who will pay for your books in the future. 

2. Promotion is Easier 

As mentioned above, offering something for free now can turn into a potential sale in the future. To make the most of this free promotion, and to make sure you reach the most potential readers, spread the word about your promotion. Share it with your email list, in your newsletter, with social media fans, etc.  

For instance, take advantage of Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing program, which allows you to offer your book for free through KDP Select. You will have to sell your book on Amazon exclusively during this period, but it can be one of the most effective ways to make sure your book is seen by a large number of readers at once. 

There are other free giveaway opportunities available on sites like Library Thing and Goodreads. Both of these sites allow members to give away copies of their books. Again, for these freebies to work, you do need to promote your giveaway, both on the site you choose and to your own network. 

3. Pricing is Competitive  

So how should you price your book once your free promotion is over? As mentioned above, readers are inundated with choices, and pricing can make a huge difference in which books readers will choose. If you want to build a fan base, you’ve got to price your book competitively within your genre or niche. How do you determine pricing? Look at books in your market and find the average price. Amazon is a good place to do this research, but keep in mind you may see a lot of eBooks listed for free as part of a promotion or the Kindle Lending Library. Look at regularly-priced books. 

How to Use Free Promotions Effectively to Grow Fans and Sales 

1.Give away more than your book: The concept of free extends beyond your books. Think of all of the additional freebies you can share with your fans, such as tips, videos, webinars, and content. They’ll all bring people back to visit your website, read your blog, and buy your other products.  

2.Stay relevant:As you grow your fan base, make sure to keep people’s attention by checking in with them on a regular basis. You can start to grow this relationship by using the last page of your book to thank them for their purchase, encourage them to send you feedback, and ask them for a review. Let your fans know you’re interested in them and that you appreciate them. Once you have gained followers, cultivate this relationship by sharing ideas, posting great content, and making connections on social media. The more you reach out, the more effective you’ll be at building and growing your fan base.  

3. Invite fans into your world:Use your blog, social media, videos, and more to draw readers into your world. Be informative and entertaining by providing additional fun, free content. For fiction authors, share tidbits about your characters, blog in character, ask fans to help you select music for the characters, or post fun quizzes. Nonfiction authors can use their expertise to create tip sheets, informational videos, and mini eBooks. Identify how you can connect with fans in different ways, and be sure to offer variety. 

It’s important for you to remember that there’s no single marketing strategy that will help attract and retain fans. Instead, marketing is made up of a series of actions and consistent engagement over time that will help you to increase your following and keep them interested and involved. Freebies are only one marketing tool, but you now have the understanding and tools to make sure you’re using freebies effectively to get more exposure, fans, credibility, and sales over the long term.   

For more book marketing tips, check out my new book, 5-Minute Book Marketing for Authors - Updated 2019 Edition.It’s out now and features easy and effective ways to market your book every single day in as little as 5 minutes!

Have you ever tried free? Any tips for us?

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Penny C. Sansevieri, Founder and CEO Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. She is an Adjunct Professor teaching Self-Publishing for NYU. She was named one of the top influencers of 2019 by New York Metropolitan Magazine.

Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most innovative Amazon Optimization programs as well as Social Media/Internet book marketing campaigns. She is the author of eighteen books, including How to Sell Your Books by the Truckload on Amazon, Revise and Re-Release Your Book, 5-Minute Book Marketing for Authors, and Red Hot Internet Publicity, which has been called the "leading guide to everything Internet." 

AME has had dozens of books top bestseller lists, including those of the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal.

To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at www.amarketingexpert.com.